2 Weeks After Prisoner Exchange, Bergdahl Arrives In Texas

A video frame grab of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl released by the Voice of Jihad website shows the soldier during his captivity.

AP

Originally published on June 13, 2014 4:25 am

This post was updated at 4:15 a.m. ET Friday:

U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio after a flight from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, according to a Pentagon spokesman. He will receive medical treatment and will be reunited with his family.

This post was updated at 5:30 p.m. ET

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has left a hospital in Germany on a military flight to San Antonio, where he will continue his rehabilitation at Brooke Army Medical Center after being held for five years by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press quotes a Pentagon official as saying that Bergdahl was en route to Texas.

NPR's Tom Bowman says Bergdahl, who was freed by Taliban captors in a controversial prisoner swap late last month, will return to U.S. soil sometime early Friday morning.

"At this point, officials say Bergdahl has not spoken with his parents, but they are expected to have a reunion at San Antonio at the Army hospital," Tom says.

"There's no word on how long this phase of his recovery will take," he says.

According to NBC, Bergdahl "will not make any public appearances during Phase 3 of his reintegration process, and there will be no media coverage of his return or during his stay at Brooke Army Medical Center."

The AP reports:

"Officials have kept a lid on details of Bergdahl's condition and his travel plans out of concern that he not be rushed back into the public spotlight after a lengthy period in captivity and amid a public uproar over the circumstances of his capture and release.

"Officials also said Thursday that the Army has not yet formally begun a new review into the circumstances of Bergdahl's capture and whether he walked away without leave or was deserting the Army when he was found and taken by insurgents.

"The answers to those questions will be key to whether Bergdahl will receive more than $300,000 in back pay that is owed to him since he disappeared in June 2009 from his post in eastern Afghanistan. If he was determined to be a prisoner of war, he also could receive roughly another $300,000 or more, if recommended and approved by Army leaders, according to a U.S. official."